Warriors Rewritten Moments
by Tigercry
Summary: A Place for my rewritten moments of the series! Usually Power of Three and Omen Of the Stars! (Cinderblaze) (Hollyleaves) (Briarfeather)
1. Outcast Chapter 6

_**So I decided to Make a story where I'll put all the rewritten moments I have, most of them are in the power of three or Omen of Stars because it's a bit different, the prophecy's a little different too :)**_

 _ **Outcast Chapter 6**_

Poppypaw dived forward; Lionpaw could see she was trying to use the move he had taught her in their earlier training session, the one Tigerstar had shown him. But when she tried to hook Honeypaw's legs from under her, Honeypaw was too fast. Leaping backward, she met Poppypaw head on- and delivered two blows to her nose before darting away.

"You'll need to be quicker than that," Berrynose meowed.

Lionpaw bristled. Firestar had released the two young warriors from their apprentice duties, but didn't Berrynose have anything better to do than interfering in the training session? He was sprawled on a rock at the edge of the clearing, making loud comments on the apprentices' performance.

"That was very good," he remarked condescendingly to Honeypaw. "Your moves are coming along nicely."

"Thanks, Berrynose!" Honeypaw blinked adoringly at the cream-colored warrior.

Lionpaw stifled a twinge of annoyance. Not long ago, Honeypaw had seemed to like him best. Soon after he had given up his friendship with Heatherpaw he had overheard Cinderpaw and Honeypaw arguing about Berrynose, the gray tabby had let it slip that Honeypaw only liked him so much because she had feelings for the mouse-brained tom.

"Your turn, Lionpaw!" Berrynose broke into his thoughts. "Let's see what you can do."

 _Who made you my mentor?_ Lionpaw glanced around the clearing for Ashfur, who should have been in charge of the training session, but he was several fox-lengths away, demonstrating a move to Hollypaw.

"Come on you lazy lump," Berrynose urged him. "You'll never get to be a warrior sitting on your tail all day."

 _No?_ Lionpaw gritted his teeth. _If I looked at you, I'd think that's all warriors do!_

"Come on Cinderpaw," He meowed, looking over at the gray apprentice sitting next to him with their tails discreetly entwined. He un twined their tails and got to his paws, padding toward the center of the clearing. "Let's practice."

Cinderpaw bounced up to him, her fur bristling with eagerness and her tail fluffed out. She was moving confidently, Lionpaw thought as if the leg she had injured felt fine. As she approached, she aimed a blow at his ear with sheathed claws. He dodged to one side and tried to unbalance her by butting his head into her shoulder, but Cinderpaw stayed on her feet and wrapped her forepaws around his neck, thrusting him to the ground. Lionpaw battered at her belly with his hind paws. After a few heartbeats, Cinderpaw let go and sprang away from him, waiting in eager anticipation for him to get up again.

"That was great!" he panted. He knew he would have won eventually.

Cinderpaw was glowing with pride that she was getting her fighting skill back again. "Let's try again!"

"You know, Lionpaw, you got that move all wrong," Berrynose interrupted. "You should never have let her knock you over. If that had been a real fight, she could have bitten your throat out."

Lionpaw spun around to face him; hot fury flooded through him from ears to tail tip. "I suppose you found that out when you were fighting Shadowclan," he taunted.

Berrynose sprang off the rock, his ears flattened and his neck fur standing on end. "Don't talk to a warrior like that!" he spat.

"Then stop being such a know-it-all!" Lionpaw retorted. "You're not my mentor, so stay out of my fur." Cinderpaw's soft warning hiss reminded him of the trouble he would be in if he attacked a Clanmate for real and not as part of a training session. No matter how much he would have hurled himself at him and raked his claws across the cream warrior's muzzle at the price of two mouse tails. Turning his back on Berrynose and ignoring Cinderpaws mew of concern, he stormed off to the side of the clearing, where he stood with his flanks heaving, trying to control the waves of rage that surged through him.

"Just wait till I'm a warrior," he vowed under his breath. "Then I'll show you who's best at fighting."

"Take it easy, Lionpaw." The calm voice felt like a draft of cool water. At first, Lionpaw thought it must be Tigerstar, and he looked around for the shadowy tabby figure. Instead, he spotted Stormfur sunning himself in a quiet patch of sunlight at the foot of an oak tree.

Awkwardly Lionpaw dipped his head to him. "Sorry," he mewed. "But I can't stand it when Berrynose acts like he's Clan leader."

Stormfur let out a sympathetic murmur.

"I know I shouldn't let him get to me, but I can't help it," Lionpaw confessed. "Sometimes it's the other apprentices too. Well not Hollypaw or Cinderpaw, but the rest of them. I feel like I have to be the best all the time."

Part of him was horrified that he'd blurted all that out to a senior warrior. Including the slip of mentioning Cinderpaw's name. There was no reason for Stormfur to care about his problems.

"Why?" the gray-furred tom asked, seeming to have either not caught the slip or decided to pretend he hadn't.

"I don't know why!" Lionpaw hesitated, thoughts battering his mind like a storm, then added, "I suppose I do know, really. It's because I'm Firestar's kin. There's never been a leader like him, and every cat will expect me to be just as good because I'm related to him."

"And Tigerstar?" Stormfur prompted.

Lionpaw dug his claws into the ground. Any nervous thought about Stormfur noticing his slip about Cinderpaw vanished. How could Stormfur possibly know about his meetings with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost? "T-Tigerstar?" he gulped.

Stormfur blinked at him. "I know what problems your father had. Brambleclaw was always afraid the Clan would never trust him because they hated Tigerstar so much."

Lionpaw had never thought of that before. It was hard to imagine his father as a young cat, uncertain of his place in the Clan.

"What was my father like?" he asked, padding up to Stormfur and sitting beside him in the comforting splash of sunlight. The fur on his shoulders began to lie flat again; he had almost forgotten the quarrel with Berrynose. "What was it like when you went on the quest together?"

"Terrifying." Memory glowed in Stormfur's amber eyes, fear, and courage, humor and friendship, all at once. "I don't know what was harder-traveling through unfamiliar, dangerous territory, or trying to get along with cats from the other Clans. We all came back changed." He paused to rasp his tongue over his shoulder and then went on. "At first we seemed to argue all the time. But it was usually your father who had the best ideas, and pretty soon we realized that he was the natural leader among us."

"Tell me what happened," Lionpaw prompted.

"Four cats, one in each Clan, had a dream telling them to go to the sun-drown-place," Stormfur began. "They were supposed to listen to what midnight told them. None of us realized that Midnight was a badger."

Lionpaw nodded; he and his littermates had never met the badger who helped the Clans find their new home, but his mother had told them stories about her.

"It must have been really hard," Lionpaw mewed, trying to imagine getting along with cats from the other Clans. "Okay, he'd been friendly with Heatherpaw, but suppose he'd had to cooperate with Breezepaw or warriors from ShadowClan?

"It wasn't all bad," Stormfur replied. His tail curled in amusement. "There was the time your mother got stuck in a Twoleg fence. She was spitting with fury, and she couldn't move!"

Lionpaw let out a little murrow of laughter, imagining Squirrelflight stuck and furious. "Did my father rescue her?"

Stormfur shook his head. "No. Brambleclaw was thinking about digging up the fence post, and I thought we might bite through the shiny fence stuff. Meanwhile, Tawnypelt and Feathertail smoothed down your mother's fur with some dock leaves and got her out that way."

"I wish I'd been there," Lionpaw mewed.

"I wouldn't have missed it. Even though we were scared a lot of the time or tired, or hungry, we all knew we were doing the best to help our Clans."

"And you became really good friends with my father."

Stormfur twitched his whiskers. "We weren't all the friendly, to begin with. I was jealous of Brambleclaw.""

"Why?" Lionpaw asked, surprised.

"Because I liked your mother too much. But a blind rabbit could have seen that Brambleclaw was the cat she liked best, even though they spent most of their time arguing."

"You liked Squirrelflight?" Lionpaw blinked in astonishment. Suppose Stormfur had been his father instead of Brambleclaw? _I would have been a different cat…_

"I'd never met a cat like her," Stormfur admitted. "So bright and brave and determined, even though she was only an apprentice then. But then we stayed with the Tribe in the mountains, and when I met Brook I knew that she was the right cat for me."

His amber eyes clouded and he fell silent. Lionpaw couldn't understand why he should look like that when he'd been talking about finding Brooke. "What's the matter?"

Stormfur let out a long sigh. "My sister, Feathertail, was with us on the journey," he explained. "She was a beautiful, warm-hearted cat. She died in the mountains."

Lionpaw dared to reach out with his tail and rest it on the gray warrior's shoulder. "What happened?"

"The tribe was being hunted by a mountain lion. There was a prophecy that a silver cat would come to save them. At first, they thought it was me, but it was Feathertail. She died saving them." His voice shook. "I had to leave her there, buried in the mountains."

"I'm so sorry," Lionpaw mewed, trying to imagine what he would feel like if Hollypaw died. Or Jaypaw and Cinderpaw for that matter.

Stormfur licked his chest fur a few times and jerked his head as if he was shaking off a fly. "Moons pass, and you have to carry on."

"I hope you didn't mind my asking."

"Of course not." Stormfur sounded more like himself again. "You can ask me anything you like. If I can help at all, I'll be glad to."

"Thanks." Lionpaw felt as warm and comforted as if he'd just eaten a plump piece of fresh-kill. "It's easier talking to you than a ThunderClan cat- oh, sorry." He broke off, scuffling his paws with embarrassment, "I didn't mean-"

"That's okay," Stormfur meowed, "I know what you meant. It's true that I'm only a visitor here, however, loyal I feel toward Firestar and your father and the other ThunderClan cats."

"Where do you feel most at home?" Lionpaw mewed curiously, "In RiverClan, or with the Tribe of Rushing Water, or in ThunderClan?"

Stormfur didn't reply at once. His eyes grew thoughtful; he licked one paw and drew it over his ear a few times. "I'm a RiverClan cat at heart," he replied at last. "That's where I grew up and where I became a warrior. But that was back in the forest, and no cat has a home there now. Right now I feel loyal to ThunderClan because you welcomed me and Brook. And it's good to live in the same Clan as Graystripe and get to know him better."

"Will you stay here forever?"

"I don't know. This isn't Brooke's home, and if she doesn't want to stay, I won't force her."

"Why don't you go back to the mountains, then?"

A somber look crept into Stormfur's eyes. "It's not that easy."

"You could go for a visit," Lionpaw suggested.

"No, it's too far," Stormfur mewed briskly. He rose to his paws and gave his fur a shake. "Come on, it's time we were going back to camp."

Glancing over his shoulder, Lionpaw saw that the training session was over. Ashfur and the other apprentices were heading toward the stone hollow. There was no sign of Berrynose.

"You go ahead," he meowed to Stormfur. "I'll be back in a while."

"Okay." Stormfur bounded off to catch up with Ashfur and the others.

"Thanks, Stormfur!" Lionpaw called after him.

Stormfur waved his tail in reply as he vanished into the bushes.

Lionpaw turned and padded into the trees in the opposite direction from the camp. He paused to make sure that Stormfur had really gone, then picked up the pace until he reached the top of a steep ridge, sitting at the top and looking at the territories of both ThunderClan and WindClan. The sun was going down, washing the surface of the lake with scarlet and throwing his long shadow to one side. Lionpaw enjoyed the warmth of its rays and the gentle breeze that ruffled his fur.

Once he might've thought that he could join Heatherpaw in WindClan, but the landscape of their territory looked bleak and unwelcoming. There was no cover, no soft moss, no undergrowth where prey could hide. He knew he could never live in WindClan. He would miss the trees: He could hear them now, beneath and around him, the faint creak of branches and the rustle of their leaves in the wind. He could never have given that up, however much he had thought he loved Heatherpaw. Stormfur must've loved Brook, to give up his home and stay with her in the mountains. The wind shifted and he caught a whiff of Cinderpaw's lingering scent, he was glad he didn't have to go anywhere to be with the one he loved; she was right where they both belonged, surrounded by rustling trees, squeaking mice, thick undergrowth, and many places to hide from the sun.

Lionpaw raised his head and gazed into the distance. He could just make out a dark, misty band on the horizon, where the mountains lay. Brook had pointed it out to him once, on a border patrol near WindClan territory; he wondered if she felt her paws tugging her toward it.

 _What do the mountains look like?_ He wondered. All his life he had heard about the Great Journey and the territories the clans had crossed to find their new home by the lake.

Lionpaw felt his paws itching to explore. He longed to discover what lay beyond ThunderClan's borders, beyond all the Clan's borders. The world was so wide, and he had seen so little of it. There was so much out there, beyond the reach of the warrior code, beyond the knowledge even of the medicine cats and elders. _It's as though the mountains are calling me…_

"Do you feel it too?" He quickly looked behind him to see Cinderpaw padding over to him, gray coat sleek, blue eyes curious and almost wistful, "The mountains calling you I mean?" She sat back on her haunches next to him, their pelts brushing.

Lionpaw's bristling fur flattened and his tense muscles relaxed, "yes."

"I wonder how I could ever answer the call," Cinderpaw mewed softly, "It's almost like something needs me there."

"I feel the same way," He mewed just as quietly, "I don't know how either of us could ever get to the mountains."

"Me either, but Cloudtail sent me to come find you, come on, Hollypaw's waiting for you in camp." Cinderpaw mewed, nuzzling Lionpaw's cheek, "She looks like she's been rolling around in moss all day with the amount of it stuck in her pelt." She murrowed, getting to her paws.

Lionpaw purred at the idea of his black furred sister covered in moss and got to his paws as well, falling into step with Cinderpaw and starting to pad back toward camp, their fur brushing softly.


	2. Outcast Chapter 7

_**Outcast Chapter 7**_

Cinderpaw was startled from her musings about the mountains at Hollypaw's announcement.

"I've got a plan." Hollypaw had announced moments earlier.

She and Cinderpaw had cleared the old bedding out of the elder's den and were clawing fresh moss from around the roots of an oak tree. Shreds of mist drifted among the trees, reminding Cinderpaw of the conversation she had had with Lionpaw about the mountains; while overhead the sun was struggling to break through a covering of cloud.

Cinderpaw shook her musings away and focused on her friend, pausing the action of collecting moss with her claws deep in the soft green covering. "What plan?"

"It's about becoming a warrior." Holly left the ball of moss she was gathering and padded over to sit on a twisted root beside the gray apprentice. "It's so confusing, learning about fighting and hunting and all the stuff about the warrior code. I can't think of everything at once, so I'm going to concentrate on one thing at a time."

Cinderpaw blinked, that entire statement made no sense, focusing on one thing at a time? Had her friend gotten hit too hard during battle training lately? "I don't get it."

Hollypaw sighed, "I'm going to start with hunting. If a Clan isn't well fed, it can't defend its borders and fight battles. I'll practice and practice until I'm really good at it. Then I'll go on to something else."

Cinderpaw started clawing up the moss again, using neat clean strokes of her claws. "I think that sounds mouse-brained," she mewed. _One thing at a time? Only Hollypaw would think of this stuff._ "I mean, you can't stop doing everything else, can you? Are you going to leave me to finish the bedding while you go off looking for prey?" She mewed, her tail twitched in amusement at the idea.

Cinderpaw shifted instinctively, dodging Hollypaw's swipe with unsheathed claws so it just missed her ear. "No, of course, I'm not. I know I'll have to do duties and training sessions and all that. But I'm going to concentrate on hunting." Hollypaw mewed, accompanying the swipe.

Cinderpaw let out a faint snort of amusement. "I'd like to hear what Brackenfur has to say if he thinks you're not concentrating on fighting." This whole idea felt wrong to her in a strange way, in some familiar kind of way.

Cinderpaw felt a bit of moss hit her and knew it was from Hollypaw, but instead of tossing some back at her she stopped what she was doing and looked up at her, blue eyes serious. "Honestly, Hollypaw, I don't think this is a good idea. Being a warrior means you have to do everything together. You can't put stuff in order. I know I'm not explaining it very well, but-" She was abruptly cut off by her black-furred friend.

"No, you're not," Hollypaw snapped, then stopped, seeming not wanting to start a quarrel. "Sorry, Cinderpaw," she went on. "I just think this will be a way that will work for me. You don't have to join in if you don't want to."

Cinderpaw reached up to touch Hollypaw's nose with her ear. "It's okay. And you know I'll help if I can."

 _Even if this is the craziest thing I've heard, and would rather not breaking off my relationship with Lionpaw to join you in this Hollypaw, I'll help you if I can._

By the time Cinderpaw and Hollypaw had finished refreshing the elder's bedding, Thornclaw and Brackenfur were gathering the apprentices together in the middle of the clearing.

"Are we hunting?" Hollypaw asked eagerly.

It was Thornclaw who replied. "No, Cloudtail and I are taking our apprentices to the mossy clearing for some advanced battle training. You and Lionpaw can come along and watch."

"And join in if you want to," Brackenfur added.

Cinderpaw gave an excited little bounce. "Let's go!"

Cloudtail padded up behind her and flicked her on the shoulder with his tail. "You be careful of that leg. If I'm asking too much of you, I want to know."

Cinderpaw's excitement faded, replaced with worry, "My leg's fine, Cloudtail. It won't hold me back from being a warrior, will it?"

"I hope not. We'll have to see," was Cloudtail's discouraging response.

"Don't worry. You will be a warrior. I just know it." Hollypaw pressed her muzzle against's Cinderpaw's. But it did nothing to raise the gray tabby's hopes. Instead, Cinderpaw chose to focus her attention on Ashfur and Lionpaw as they came padding over with Lionpaw from the apprentices' den.

"Are we all ready?" The gray warrior asked. "Where's Honeypaw?"

"Sandstorm took her on a hunting patrol," Brackenfur replied. "She'll join us later."

The clouds had cleared away and the sun was burning up the mist. In the shadow of the trees, the grass was still laden with dew. Cinderpaw's whiskers twitched as she watched Hollypaw flick her ears to get rid of the droplets that the dew laden ferns had deposited onto the black she-cat's head.

With four apprentices and their mentors, the clearing was crowded. Hollypaw and Brackenfur were to one side in a sunny spot with Lionpaw and Ashfur a few tail-lengths away. Cinderpaw watched carefully as Cloudtail and Thornclaw demonstrated a move to her and Poppypaw: Cloudtail leaped into the air with a twist so that he came down on Thornclaw's shoulders.

"Now you try," he invited Cinderpaw.

Cinderpaw crouched to face her mentor and launched herself into the air. She got the twist right, but she hadn't leaped high enough, so instead on landing on Cloudtail's shoulders she blundered clumsily into his side, and he pinned her down with one paw on her chest.

"Not bad for a first try," he commented, letting her get up, "but you need more strength in that leap. Is your leg bothering you?"

Cinderpaw blinked, she hadn't been paying attention to the gentle throbbing starting to appear in her leg. "No, it's fine. I'll get it right next time." She both lied and promised, already thinking about how to adjust it just enough so she wouldn't make the same mistake but wouldn't hurt herself.

"And don't forget," Thornclaw added, "in a real fight your enemy won't stand still and wait for you to land on him. You've got to anticipate his next move."

"Let me have a try," Poppypaw meowed.

As the training session went on, Cinderpaw noticed out of the corner of her eye, Lionpaw and Ashfur starting to train as well. She got a few blows to her nose when she was distracted by Lionpaw's golden pelt catching the sunlight and turning it to flame as he leaped into the air.

Moments later she and her mentor stopped all together as they were nearly knocked off their paws by Lionpaw and Ashfur wrestling together in a screeching tangle of fur. Cinderpaw's blue eyes widened with fear for the younger apprentice, the two tom cats were fighting as if the golden apprentice was a warrior. She watched as Lionpaw bit down on Ashfur's tail, then jerked it hard so that Ashfur was unbalanced and fell on his side. She'd seen Berrynose and his littermates practicing that move just before they were made warriors and had actually learned it on her own with a lot of trail and error with Lionpaw himself. So seeing it didn't amaze her at all, Hollyapw seemed seemed amazed though.

Cinderpaw's tail started fluffing out as she spotted flecks of scarlet on Ashfur's gray pelt. Lionpaw would get into big trouble for fighting with claws unsheathed if it was only him. Her fur started bristling as she noticed Lionpaw was bleeding too, his mentor's blue eyes were blazing with fury as if he'd forgotten this wasn't a real battle.

"They're hurting each other!" Hollypaw turned to Brackenfur. "Can't you make them stop?"

Before Brackenfur could do anything, Ashfur launched himself on top of Lionpaw and held him down with both forepaws on his chest. "Was that tough enough for you?" he panted.

Cinderpaw stifled a hiss through her clenched jaw, a dozen different ways to Lionpaw to escape his mentor coming to mind.

But Lionpaw wouldn't give in. He went on battering at Ashfur's belly with his hind paws, twisting from side to side in an effort to throw off the heavier cat. Ashfur raised his paw, aiming a blow at Lionpaw's ear.

"That's enough." Brackenfur bounded forward, his voice sharp with shock. "Ashfur, let him up. Lionpaw, sheathe your claws. This bout is over."

Ashfur turned his head to glare at Brackenfur. The blaze in his eyes faded and he stepped back. Lionpaw scrambled to his paws, while Brackenfur thrust himself between them in case the fight broke out all over again.

Lionpaw's chest heaved as he fought for breath. The fur on one shoulder was torn and blood was welling out of the scratches; Cinderpaw could see the marks of Ashfur's claws down his side, making the gray tabby tempted to claw at the gray warrior's ears.

But Ashfur was bleeding too, from one ear and a hind leg. After a heartbeat to catch his breath, he meowed loudly, "Well done, Lionpaws. You fought like a warrior." Looking around, he added, "I hope the rest of you were watching. You should all be trying to be as good as Lionpaw."

Cinderpaw exchanged a glance with her sister Poppypaw, just as shocked as she was. She eyed Lionpaw warily, her fur bristling uneasily. That wasn't how a practice session was supposed to go and the entire battle had her uneasy, with that much savagery and ferocity she wasn't sure what happened to the kind gentle hearted golden furred tom she had fallen in love with many moons ago.

"Come on." Ashfur beckoned to Lionpaw with his tail. "That was so good, you don't have to do any more training. We'll go back to camp, and you can have the first pick of the fresh-kill pile."

"Thanks, Ashfur!" Lionpaw was recovering now, his breathing easier and his fur beginning to lie flat again.

A shiver made its way down Cinderpaw's spine in his voice, even his voice was different. It was the same tone he had used on Hollypaw when he had gotten upset about them finding out about him and Heatherpaw, angry and fierce with no trace of the gentle playfulness usually there.

"I'll tell Firestar, too," his mentor added. "Thunderclan will have a warrior to be proud of when you finish your apprenticeship.

 _To be proud of? Or to fear?_ Cinderpaw wondered as she saw Lionpaw's amber eyes glow and he padded off beside Ashfur with his head and tail held high. No cat spoke until they had disappeared into the undergrowth, heading for the camp.

Then Cloudtail puffed out his breath as if he'd been holding it. "Right. Let's see what the rest of you can do."

"Are you going to fight us like that?" Poppypaw asked nervously.

It was Brackenfur who replied. "Certainly not." His fur was still ruffled, either by the ferocity of the fight or by how well Lionpaw had fought Cinderpaw didn't know. "We'll just go on practicing the techniques. And we'll all keep our claws sheathed."

Cinderpaw found it hard to concentrate, the change in both Ashfur and Lionpaw had been intense and frightening. The rage in Ashfur's eyes, as if he'd forgotten he was fighting his own apprentice, and Lionpaw's savage ferocity. Quite frankly it scared her, how easily he could shift from the lovable apprentice to the ferocious and savage fighter. She shivered slightly, she was not looking forward to returning to camp and to the apprentice's den later at sundown.


	3. Dark River Chapter 2 Part: 3

_**Stormleaf- I did! :D :D I updated part of a chapter! :D :D :D :D :D :D**_

 _Dark River Chapter 2_

 _Part 3_ _ **(I wrote the last part first! XD)**_

 _(pages 38-44)_

An owl screeched far above the hollow, and Hollypaw rolled over in her nest, half woken by the noise. She stretched her forepaws, feeling for the reassuring warmth of Lionpaw and found emptiness. She blinked open her eyes.

"Lionpaw?" She hissed under her breath.

No reply.

She reached farther into his nest, wondering if he had rolled far side but no, he was definitely gone. All that was there was empty moss and the tip of Cinderpaw's tail, a usual occurance since a few days ago.

"Are you looking for Lionpaw? Poppypaw yawned from the other side of his nest, from where she was curled up with her sister Cinderpaw. "He left the den a while ago."

Hollypaw sat up, her heart racing. Lionpaw had gone missing once too often.

"Is something wrong?" Poppypaw's eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"N-no." Hollypaw didn't want to arouse the suspicions of the other apprentices.

"Has Lionpaw gone to make dirt again?" Cinderpaw's mew sounded from her nest where she was now sitting up, her silver coat gleaming a little in the sparse moon light. "It must be that stale old thrush he ate."

Hollypaw felt a wave of gratitude toward her friend. She was clearly covering for Lionpaw, stopping Poppypaw from answering any more awkward questions. The thrust had been perfectly healthy, caught fresh that day by Cinderpaw herself.

"I'll go and check if he's okay," Hollypaw mewed.

She crept from the den and hurried as silently as she could around the edge of the slumbering camp, keeping to the shadows. Lionpaw's scent led to the entrance, following the same furtive route. ' _Let me find him making dirt,'_ Hollypaw prayed. Paw steps sounded behind her.

Hollypaw froze and glanced over her shoulder.

"It's just me." Cinderpaw's mew sounded from the darkness, and the silver tabby stepped out of the shadows, her blue eyes gleamed in the clear moonlight. "I thought you might want company."

"Thanks." If Lionpaw was really making dirt, there was no harm in Cinderpaw's knowing, ut if he wasn't and, as Hollypaw feared, he was out in the forest, she would be pleased to have a friend with her.

One after the other, they squeezed through the small tunnel to the dirtplace.

"He's not here," Cinderpaw whispered, sounding not at all surprised.

Hollypaw sighed, her heart heavy. "No."

"What do you think he's up to?" The question was bland, Cinderpaw was hiding something.

Hollypaw didn't dare reply. She could guess why he might have left camp under cover of night, but she didn't want to believe it, nor did she want to believe that her friend was involved with the entire thing.

"His trail leads this way," Cinderpaw announced a moment later, her mew a little reluctant as she pointed with her nose up the lakeward slope.

Hollypaw's belly tightened. The trail led up over the ridge and then around onto the moorland: WindClan territory. ' _Perhaps he's just exploring.'_ Hope stirred in her chest, but beneath it, like a rock, lay the dark suspicion that he was meeting Heatherpaw.

"We're going to follow him, aren't we?" Cinderpaw was staring at Hollypaw, her eyes clouded with worry and even a small amount of guilt.

"Perhaps it's none of our business," Hollypaw suggested feebly, seriously not wanting to get involved with her brother's meetings with Heatherpaw.

"Of course it's our business!" Cinderpaw suddenly snapped, lashing her tail angrily, "Our denmate is out there alone. What if something happened to him?" She asked, her temper dying halfway through the first sentence.

"Is that the only reason you want to follow him-because he might be in danger?"

"No," Cinderpaw sat down, curling her tail around her paws, ears twitching a little uneasily. "I think he may be doing something he will live to regret." She mewed slowly, trying to be serious and fix her earlier blunder.

Hollypaw was taken aback by her friend's serious tone. "Do you know something I don't?" She asked.

Cinderpaw hesitated, "possibly" she mewed quietly, "but I also have a feeling that Lionpaw is making a mistake that's been made before, that should never be made, that only leads to trouble…" her mew died away, blue eyes shining with emotion.

"What do you mean?" Hollypaw asked, green eyes gleaming with confusion.

"I can't explain it, but it's a feeling I have-"

"No, I mean what do you mean, possibly?" Holly interrupted impatiently, wondering what her friend knew that she herself didn't.

Cinderpaw shuffled her paws, the movement a display of her awkwardness and nervousness, "nothing," she mewed, avoiding her friend's eyes.

"Cinderpaw, tell me."

The older apprentice shuffled her paws again as her tail tip twitched, "I don't know," she mewed softly, "I know he's friends with Heatherpaw so he's probably meeting her… I caught him a few days ago." She mewed.

Hollypaw's eyes widened, "You did?"

Cinderpaw nodded, "yeah, he seemed disturbed that I was there." She got to her paws, "let's go find your brother."

"Okay." Hollypaw could not ignore the strength of her friend's feeling any longer. Nor could she ignore her own. All her instincts told her that Lionpaw was breaking the warriors code, and it was her duty as a Clan cat to stop him. She charged up the slope, sniffing the twigs and brambles for Lionpaw's scent, following the path he had taken to the top of the ridge. Cinderpaw bounded after her and they quickly reached the edge of the trees. The ground sloped away in front of them, down to the shore where the lake sparkled in the moonlight. Hollypaw scanned the distant moorland, half hoping to see Lionpaw, half hoping she wouldn't. It Lionpaw was roaming around at night, she wanted it to be on ThunderClan territory.

There was no sign of movement in the shadowy heather. Hollypaw plunged down the slope, following an old rabbit track through the coarsening grass. Under paw the ground grew more peaty as the neared the WindClan border. Heather bushes sprouted on either side of the track as the slope flattened and the sound of water lapping the shore grew louder.

"Did you hear that?" Cinderpaw's sharp hiss startled Hollypaw. SHe pricked her ears. A small hollow, ringed by heater, lay in the shadow ahead of them. From it came the sound of voices. Hollypaw's tail bristled as she recognized lionpaw's mew. He sounded happy; happier than she had heard him in days. She crept forward, keeping low, and ducked into the swath of heather that shielded the hollow. Setting the bushes rustling, she wriggled between the bare stems and peered over the top of the slope.

Her brother was charging after a ball of moss like an excited kit. He dived at it as it landed and, with a tremendous swipe, sent it flying back in the other direction. A lithe shape leaped up from the grass to catch it. Its tabby pelt glowed in the moonlight. Hollypaw's heart sank like a rock. Heatherpaw!

"You don't seem surprised." Cinderpaw had slid in beside her and was peering down into the grassy dip, her gray ears drooping slightly.

Hollypaw shook her head. "I'm not." Reluctantly she wriggled out from the heather. "Lionpaw!" she called.

Lionpaw and Heatherpaw froze, staring at each other in alarm. The moss ball fell to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Hollypaw demanded.

Slowly Lionpaw tore his gaze from Heatherpaw's and turned to face his sister. His eyes sparked with defiance.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!"

"Spying on me!"

Hollypaw flinched. "You shouldn't be here, playing with her!" She glared at Heatherpaw.

"Why not? She's just a friend."

"Lionpaw," Cinderpaw mewed, emerging from the heather as well, "come on, please don't fight with Hollypaw," the silver tabby asked, blue eyes flickering with the hurt that only he could see.

Lionpaw opened his mouth to object, but the words died on his tongue as he noticed the visible hurt and exasperation in his friend's eyes.

Hollypaw knew she had won the argument. Or, more like Cinderpaw did. But her brother's eyes did not concede anything as they focused back on her. They shone with rage directed at her. He turned to Heatherpaw. "I'd better go."

Heatherpaw had had her gaze fixed on Cinderpaw for the past few moments, her pale blue eyes fixed on the bright coated tabby. She then dipped her head. "I know," she sighed.

Hollypaw clenched her teeth as Lionpaw licked the other apprentice's ear, did he really think having a friend like this was okay?

Lionpaw padded up the slope and glared at Hollypaw, "Did you have to tell the whole Clan?" he hissed to the black furred she-cat.

Cinderpaw flicked her tail, alerting Lionpaw that she was still there. "I just came to make sure Hollypaw was safe," she explained. "I didn't tell anyone."

"And they won't know," Hollypaw added, "so long as you stay away from Heatherpaw."

Lionpaw glared at her. "Ist that a threat?"

Hollypaw backed away. She had never seen Lionpaw this angry. Even when they had quarreled as kits, there had always been a lighthearted twinkle in his eyes. But not now. He eyes were cold as stars.

"If you continue meeting Heatherpaw, I will have to tell Brambleclaw," she insisted, trying to not let her voice tremble. Lionpaw bristled.

"There's a good reason why the warrior code forbids mixing with cats from other Clans," Hollypaw went on. "How can you be loyal to your own Clan when your heart lies in another?"

"That's enough Hollypaw." Cinderpaw mewed sharply, interrupting her.

"What, you don't think he should stop meeting her?" Hollypaw asked her friend in surprise, the fur on her neck rising slightly.

"No," Cinderpaw mewed, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. " I agree that he should stop meeting her, but you have some of your information wrong, Lionpaw's heart doesn't lie with Heatherpaw, it lies with me."

Hollypaw blinked in shock, "What?" She mewed in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

"He's really just friends with Heatherpaw," Cinderpaw explained, blue eyes twinkling lightheartedly. "Remember when it was raining that one morning and Lionpaw was soaking wet? He wasn't with Heatherpaw, he was with me that night, I had followed him and caught him playing with Heatherpaw. I over reacted and ran off to tell Brambleclaw, but Lionpaw ran after me. Long story short, I decided to keep the secret."

Hollypaw shook her head, "It's still forbidden."

"What's wrong with having friends?" Lionpaw flattened his ears, "You're friends with Willowpaw."

"I'm not sneaking out every night to see her!"

A low growl sounded in Lionpaw's throat.

Cinderpaw acted in response, getting to her paws and nosing his ear, a low inaudible purr rumbling through her body attempting to calm him down before Holly really made him mad.

"Are you accusing me of disloyalty?" Lionpaw growled, his attention fixed on his sister, still agitated and upset.

"I know you'd never be disloyal," Hollypaw mewed. "But you're making it difficult for yourself. That's why you must stop this." It was hard enough having kin another Clan without deliberately making friends outside the forest. Weren't Lionpaw's Clanmates enough for him?

A low growl sounded in Lionpaw's throat. "I'm going for a walk." He brushed muzzles with Cinderpaw before he barged past Hollypaw and padded toward the trees. Hollypaw felt CInderpaw's tall run along her flank, smoothing her ruffled fur.

"He'll get over it," Cinderpaw promised, her own fur ruffled from his anger.

"I hope so," Hollypaw sighed. She knew she'd done the right thing, but she hadn't expected Lionpaw to react so angrily as if he believed that he'd done nothing wrong. Would he ever forgive her?


	4. Long Shadows Chapter 15

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- thanks! :D**_

 _Long Shadows Chapter 15_

Jaypaw forced one paw in front of the other toward the end of the tunnel. As he emerged into nearly blinding sunlight, several cats crowded around him, mewing excitedly.

"Jay's wing! It is you!"

"Well done! You're a sharpclaw now."

"Congratulations!"

Jaypaw could barely make out individual cats among the press of furry bodies. Then a decently sized dark brown she-kit squeezed through to stare up at Jayfeather, her amber eyes wide with wonder and her scent was familiar.

"Wow! You made it Jay's Wing!" the kit squeaked and trotted over to his front legs, looking awed.

Jaypaw's nose twitched at the kit's scent, it was familiar, Clan like even. Just as he bent his head to sniff the young kit, a ginger and white she-cat thrust her way through the crowd.

"You're lucky Jay's Wing! To survive the challenge!" the she-cat yowled. Her voice quivered with sorrow, and her amber eyes were full of bitterness. "Have you forgotten that Fallen Leaves never came out of the tunnels!"

"Mom!" the dark brown kit complained as the ginger and white she-cat picked her up by the scruff, "put me down! It's not fair!"

A small gray and white she-cat with her belly heavy with kits, padded over to the ginger and white she-cat and gently nudged her away from Jaypaw. "Come on Broken Shadow," she murmured gently, "let's go find a patch of sunshine to rest in and let Prickly Briar play with the other kits."

"Let me go!" the dark brown kit complained and wriggled against her mother's grasp, "I wanna say hi!"

"You don't understand, Rising Moon!" the ginger and white she-cat named Broken Shadow wailed around the kit in her jaws, "my only son!"

Jaypaw's mind raced, what was going on? He recognized the area as the entrance to the tunnels, but the trees were smaller, letting through large amounts of sunlight, and there wasn't much undergrowth. It was his home, but at the same time, it wasn't.

 _Where am I? Who are these strange cats? Has ThunderClan been invaded?_

He searched for his clan mates and found none, _Looking? This feels too real to be a dream._ He could feel the wind in his fur and hear the voices of the other cats like the breezes through the territories in his ears; his belly rumbled loudly and his paws dragged as thought he had really been awake all night, searching for a way out of the tunnels in order to become a sharpclaw.

A pale gray she-cat bounded up to him, her blue eyes sparkling with affection. She batted playfully at his ears with a paw.

"You're a sharpclaw! It's so exciting!' she meowed and bounced gently on her paws. Suddenly her tail drooped. "I wish our mother could see you."

Jaypaw stiffened. This she-cat was his _sister?_

 _Who does she think I am?_

"Perhaps Falcon Swoope can see you." A silver furred she-cat padded up to Jaypaw, she was rather slender and had long legs and bright blue eyes.

"Do you really think so, whispering Breeze?" Jaypaw's sister meowed hopefully.

"Dove's Wing, I'm sure she still loves you, wherever she may be."

"I hope so," Dove's Wing murmured.

Jaypaw didn't understand. _Don't these cats go to Starclan when they die? And why do they all seem to know me?_

"Hi!" Prickly Briar scampered back over, amber eyes bright and happy.

Jayfeather caught the kit's scent and his eyes widened slightly. "Briarkit?" he mewed in surprise, the kit matched the ThunderClan kit's scent perfectly, was the kit really here with him?

Prickly Briar's amber eyes twinkled and the kit squealed and bounced around, "hi!"

Whispering Breeze looked puzzled, "Who's Briarkit? That's Prickly Briar, there aren't any other kits here."

"Maybe Rock told him about a Briarkit?" Dove's Wing suggested, faintly anxious.

 _Rock?_ Jaypaw's belly lurched. Did Dove's Wing know the sightless cat who lived in the tunnels?

"Oh! Tell me about the tunnels!" Prickly Briar mewed excitedly, "did you see Fallen Leaves?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but another cat padded over, a dark ginger tabby tom with muscular shoulders and amber eyes. "Don't forget sharpclaws never talk about what goes on in the caves," he warned. "That's a secret they must keep for the rest of their lives."

"It's not fair!" Prickly Briar complained, "I'll never be a sharpclaw!"

"Sure you will Prickly Briar," Dove's Wing purred before she addressed the tom. "It's okay Furled Bracken, Jay's Wing is just a bit confused."

Furled Bracken grunted. "Just so long as he remember what he was told when he went into the tunnels two nights ago."

"What? Two nights? I haven't been in the tunnels for two nights!" Jaypaw protested."

"We were so worried about you when you didn't come out on the first sunrise," Dove's Wing interrupted. "We thought you'd been lost."

"Like Fallen leaves," a new mew broke in. Jaypaw turned to see a sturdy gray tabby tom with glinting ice-blue eyes. Sadness radiated from his pelt. Jaypaw picked up such a strong image of Fallen Leaves from his mind that he guessed this cat must be the drowned cat's father.

"Stone Song!" Prickly Briar purred at her father, not at all effected by the sorrow displayed in his body language, "hi!"

"I know how hard this is so your," Furled Bracken mewed and touched his nose to the tabby tom's ear.

Stone song licked Prickly Briar between the ears before he sighed. "We waited a moon of sunrises for Fallen Leaves to emerge," he murmured. "But he never came." He glanced over at Broken Shadow where she was lying under a tree. Rising Moon was beside her, grooming her like a mother with her kit. "It is time to give up waiting." Stone Song finished quietly.

"So I can be a Sharpclaw too?" Prickly Briar asked as Jaypaw stared at the dark gray tabby.

 _How can it be only one moon since Fallen Leaves disappeared? If it's true, it means this must be long ago!_ Somehow Jaypaw had emerged from the tunnels a long time before the Clans, maybe even as far back as when the ancient cats trod the path to the Moonpool.

 _The stick!_ Jaypaw felt every hair on his pelt rise. _I'm among the cats who are marked on the stick!_ He looked down at Prickly Briar who was looking at him innocently. ' _But why is Briarkit here?_ He studied the she-kit who was much bigger than the poor scrap he was taking care who had green cough, how was the kit here, and why was she so much bigger? He realized with a jolt, _There was a mark on the stick that was much smaller than the other marks that wasn't completely crossed. So what happened to her?_

He tore his gaze away from the kit and looked toward the mouth of the tunnel. It looked ifferent now, because it was on an exposed hillside rather than surrounded by thick undergrwoth, but he sensed its shape when he walked through it to find the WindClan kits, and he was sure it was the same tunnel. Turning, he looked down at the lake, it's glinting surface clearly visible through the trees. The shape of the water was familiar, but when he looked over to the WindClan territory, he spotted Twolegs swarming over a mound of pale brown earth, pushing it around the yellow monsters. Their roaring hung in the air like the buzzing of a horde of bumblebees

Jaypaw padded forward to the edge of the slope to take a closer look. A moment later Furled Bracken and Prickly Briar joined him. "The Twolegs are still moving te earth," he meowed worriedly. "Chasing CLouds and I went down there to check it out, but we still don't know what they're doing."

"They're building nests," Jaypaw replied without thinking.

"Like a bird?" Prickly Briar asked curiously, looking up at Jaypaw with round eyes.

Furled Bracken looked sharply at him. "What, nests for Twolegs to live in? There are a few in the woods on the other side of the lake, but Twolegs have never tried to live any closer than that."

"Yes, there'll-"

Prickly Briar cut him off, "will there be four nests?" she wondered, looking out across the other slope and squinting to try and see it.

Furled bracken snorted, "we'll just guess random amounts Prickly Briar, that'll solve our problems won't it?"

"Yeah!" The kit squealed happily, she was standing at Jaypaw's front right leg, nosing through the few leaves, probably looking for something to do.

 _Thank Starclan!_ Jaypaw was immensely grateful, how the kit got there, he didn't know, but the young kit seemed to be saving his tail.

"What you doing out here?" Dove's Wing mewed as she bounded over to them and gave him a firm shoved back toward the deeper part of the forest. "You must be exhausted and starving after being in the tunnels all that time! You need to rest and I want Rising Moon to take a look at your pads. They're bleeding from walking on stone for so long."

Jaypaw looked down and saw spots of blood smeared on the grass where he had put his paws. Pain suddenly swept over him, and his head spun from the hunger that stabbed at his belly. Maybe he really had been in the tunnels for two nights. He was glad to follow Dove's Wing into the trees, where the long shadows of early morning striped the grass. "Are we going to-" he asked and was cut off again by Prickly Briar.

"Come on! Lets go to _your_ _den_!" Prickly Briar purred and shot past him and Dove's Wing, charging toward an oaktree with tendrils of ivy hanging down.

 _So these cats don't have a camp,_ Jaypaw guessed. _Think before you ask any more questions, stupid furball! Prickly Briar won't always be able to save you tail._

"Prickly Briar, come out of there," Dove's Wing purred with amusement as the kit wriggled in underneath the tendrils of ivy "Jay's Wing needs rest, not play," she mewed and nosed aside some of the ivy tendrils to reveal a cozy scoop among the roots. The bottom was lined with moss and feathers; warm scent clung about it. Prickly Briar was playing with one of the feathers that was floating around in the air, the she-kit was trying her hardest to catch it, but it kept flying higher up as she batted at it.

 _This must be Jay's Wing's den._ Jaypaw leaned down and sniffed the den, then his entire body stiffened, _That's my own scent!_

Dove's Wing nudged him toward the nest, "Lie down, I'll fetch Rising Moon." she looked over at Prickly Briar, "come-"

"I'll be good!" Prickly Briar chirped and sat down on the den's floor with a thump, amber eyes gleaming innocently at the older she-cat.

"Let him sleep," Dove's Wing directed the she-kit before she padded away, leaving the ivy tendrils guarding the entrance swishing slightly.

Worn out, Jaypaw curled up on the nest and closed his eyes. Anxiety clawed through him. _Will I ever get back to ThunderClan?_

"Jaypaw!" Prickly Briar prodded him with a paw, "get up lazy mouse!"

Jaypaw's eyes shot open and he focused on the dark brown mottled kit, "Briarkit?"

"Yup!" Prickly Briar, who was apparently Briarkit, chirped and charged around in circles, "It's me!"

"How did you get here?" Jaypaw asked and watched the kit scuffled around on the earth floor of the den.

"I don't know!" Briarkit chirped and sat back down in front of him, "but I do know that it's a lot different than our home and I'm not sick here!"

"Do you know how to go back?" Jaypaw mewed, hiding how much anxiety he was feeling.

"Rock usually comes and gets me," Briarkit mewed, her mew oddly calm for the bouncy kit. "But sometimes I can go to sleep here and wake up in ThunderClan! Although I don't really want to right now." her ears flattened against her skull, "I don't like being sick."

"I don't blame you." Jaypaw sighed and closed his eyes again.

Briarkit tilted her head slightly to one side, "I'll help you if I can," she mewed seriously, amber eyes glinting with a surprising amount of intelligence, "I've been here since I was born."

Jaypaw's eyes popped open again Since she was born? Not wonder the kit was at home in the strange place while he was fumbling around like he was a blind and deaf mouse.

Briarkit wriggled her way into his nest. The she-kit curling up in a ball near one of his flanks, snuggling up to the familiar cat.

Jaypaw closed his eyes once more, feeling his weariness tugging hard on his paws, maybe he really had been in the tunnels for two nights. His nose twitched as he drew in Briarkit's scent, her scent both familiar and she smelled slightly of ThunderClan, a comfort that temporarily soothed his anxiety and allowed him to fall into a shallow sleep.

". . . these are good juicy dock leaves." The voice roused Jaypaw from his doze. "Well done for finding that clump." Relief flooded through him. He was back in his nest in the medicine cats' den, with Leafpool talking about herbs close by.

Then he felt a small cat prodding him with a paw, "Jay's Wing!"

Jaypaw opened his eyes and saw tangled brown roots, soft feathered around his head, and the bright amber eyes of a healthy Briarkit. He could still see, Briarkit wasn't sick, and he was still with the strange cats. The voice he could hear wasn't Leafpool's, and when the ivy tendrils twitched to one side, Dove's Wing and Rising Moon looked down at him, their eyes huge with concern. Dove's Wing had a bunch of dock leaves held her jaws, which she placed on the ground to talk to him and the kit.

"Did Prickly Briar bother you?" Dove's Wing asked her brother in slight worry, "she was supposed to let you sleep."

"I did let him sleep!" Briarkit complained indignantly, "I can behave myself!"

Jaypaw sat up and shook himself, he would have to wait for Rock to come get him it seemed, he and Briarkit must be here for a reason. Maybe this was a place where he'd find answers to his questions about the prophecy, answers the StarClan couldn't give him.

"Were you hurt while you were in the tunnels?" Rising Moon asked as she padded over.

Jaypaw shook his head before he answered, "no, I'm not injured. My pads are sore, but that's all."

"Were you scared down there?" Briarkit asked with wonder in her amber eyes.

"A bit," Jaypaw admitted, hoping it didn't sound like he had hit his head too hard on something. Briarkit gave him a look that said, _continue…_ and he fumbled for what to say. "I'm really tired though, and hungry. I… I guess that's what made me so confused."

Briarkit twitched her ears in approval and bounced around the other cats' paws, unable to contain her energy any longer.

Jaypaw inwardly sighed, how was he going to do this? He had to convince these cats that he really was Jay's Wing. He wasn't sure what they would do to him if they found out he wasn't. The certainly wouldn't believe him if he told them the truth.

He had waited for so long to find out about the ancient cats, and now here he was, living among them with another ThunderClan cat! No other cat in the Clans or the Tribe of Rushing Water knew as much as this about the cats who once lived beside the lake. Jaypaw had always been conscious of them, felt their pelts brush against his, heard their whispers by the lake, and trodden in their paw steps on his way to the Moonpool

 _And know Briarkit and I are one of them!_

Rising Moon blinked and looked thoughtful. "I guess there's nothing wrong besides your need for food and rest. Let's look at your pads." She padded closer to him and crouched down beside Jaypaw. She pair no attention to Briarkit scrambling up on her head to get a better view of what was going on, it must've been a common occurrence. "Have you licked them clean?" Rising Moon asked.

"Uh… no." Jaypaw mewed in reply, his ears flattening slightly, he already knew about doing that so why didn't he?

As Dove's Wing dropped the dock Jaypaw looked up from his licking. "I always thought-" he was cut off as Briarkit tumbled off of Rising Moon's head and landed on his muzzle, forcing him to stop speaking abruptly and try to not bump his muzzle on the ground.

"They don't have single medicine cat," Briarkit whispered, her amber eyes serious. "It's just a few cats who know about herbs." her amber eyes changed to excited, "Sorry!" she chirped at a normal volume and scrambled off of Jaypaw before she went and sniffed the dock, "what's this?"

"It's called dock," Rising Moon purred at the kit's silliness, "it'll stop the bleeding."

 _Huh, so they just have a few cats who the share knowledge about herbs._ Jaypaw thought as Rising Moon rubbed the cooling dock leaves on his pads. _And they don't know as much as a Clan medicine cat._

Jaypaw remembered how uncertain Dove's Wing had been that her mother might be watching her. If these cats had no medicine cat, that could explain why they weren't aware of their ancestors. _What do they think happens when a cat dies?_

"There." Rising Moon finished rubbing the last of Jaypaw's pads. "Does that feel better?"

"It feels great, thanks." Even though he knew that horsetail would have worked better, Jaypaw was still grateful for the cooling juices on his pads.

"You can rub your paws again later," the she-cat went on, pushing the remaining dock leaves together into a pile. "But you'd better get some sleep now."

"I'll bring you something to eat," Dove's Wing promised, "come on Prickly Briar, Jay's Wing needs sleep."

"Okay," Briarkit sulked and followed the she-cat out of the den, her tail dragging unhappily over the ground.

Jaypaw's jaws stretched in a yawn as he curled back up in his nest and closed his eyes. He was so tired that he barely noticed Rising Moon scrambling out of the den before he let himself drift off to sleep.


End file.
